This invention relates generally to truck bed covers and more particularly to security or hard tonneau covers for pickups.
This particular invention relates to a cover that raises and lowers with the assistance of gas springs or other types of springs. The invention is not intended to be restricted to a particular type of pickup nor to a particular cover.
While the use of a gas spring to assist with the movement of a pickup bed security bed cover is the preferred embodiment, those of ordinary skill in the art readily recognize that other types of springs are also usable in this context.
Moving the cover to a raised position with the assist of springs is a simple engineering matter; by selecting and fitting springs to counter balance the weight of the cover and lifting legs, movement to a raised position is facilitated.
While springs do assist in raising the cover, the problem is in closing the cover from a raised position. Because of internal friction in the springs, the springs often require more force to close than they do in extending. This difference in required force is only exacerbated because of the position of the cover in a raised position; the cover is over the user's head in the open position. When the cover is mounted on a tall pickup (such as a 4×4) or when the user is significantly shorter than the raised cover, the task of closing the cover is made only more difficult.
Another problem which pickup bed covers encounter is the ability to lock the cover in the raised position. Without this capability, when the pickup is driven with cover raised to accommodate bulky cargo, the cover tends to close when the pickup stops.
It is clear there is a significant need to create an easy to use mechanism for the closing of pickup bed covers and in locking pickup bed covers in the raised postion.